Someplace to stash my stuff
with one thing and another it has been a while.
Published on March 27, 2017 By starkers In Personal Computing

At long last, after various hold-ups and distractions, days when I felt like crap with vertigo and arthritis, I finally got my AMD FX 8350 in the Thermaltake Level 10 case up and running again.  Admittedly, there were a few things I needed to do to it - like install an AMD GFX card to match the CPU brand-wise, swap out some RAM and HDDS, etc - but that was just one part of a larger project.  I've also been remodelling my desk and reorganising everything so I'm not using as much deskspace, and that has had various stoppages and drawbacks that were out of my control.

First thing was waiting ages for some clamp-to-the-desk monitor stands, and then they were the wrong ones when they arrived... meaning I had to send them back [at their expense] and wait for the right ones.  That took the best part of 7 weeks.  Then I loaned my daughter some money and couldn't afford some hardware items [screws, hinges, etc] until I got it back some 4 weeks later.

As if that wasn't enough, we got the new that Bianca has liver cancer, all while my 12 y/o granddaughter was continually running away from home and rather behaving badly.  And could we get the authorities to help?  No, it was all too much trouble and they had more important cases.  It wasn't until the damage was done that Family Services decided they'd look into it.

So, with all the distractions and hold-ups, I've not had a productive time of it, but bit by bit I am getting there... if only slowly.  The next stages shouldn't take as long because I have all the parts and stuff I need.  It's just a matter of making a new stand to keep my Coolermaster Cosmos II of the ground, then setting up all the peripherals and desk inhabitants and I'm done.

All going well, I hope to be done by this time next week, then I can sit back, relax and enjoy it.  I must admit, it is so nice to be working with a faster machine than the HP 2-in-1 with a 13.5" screen.  Now I'm on a 32" screen and it's like suddenly inheriting a big swathe of real estate with vista views.

Anyhow, it's time for bed.

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Comments (Page 1)
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on Mar 27, 2017


with a 13.5" screen.  Now I'm on a 32" screen

That would make me feel soooo warm and fuzzy inside 

on Mar 27, 2017

 

Big is beautiful

on Mar 27, 2017

anotherside

 

Big is beautiful

Don't inflate his ego. 

on Mar 28, 2017

DaveRI



with a 13.5" screen.  Now I'm on a 32" screen



That would make me feel soooo warm and fuzzy inside 

It's making me feel all warm and fuzzy all over... all this extra screen real estate and more space to put things, like the Winstep desktop modules I had no room for on the 13.5" screen.

anotherside

 

Big is beautiful

It sure is!  After being on the 2-in-1 for a while I'm sure enjoying the bigger screen size... not to mention the bigger power from the big beastie.  It's like going from the potty to the big toilet, better in every way and so much more comfortable to use.

ALMonty


Quoting anotherside,

 

Big is beautiful



Don't inflate his ego. 

Git yer mind out tha gutter... we ain't talkin' 'bout boobies here.  And being that threads which touch on such things are useless without pictures, we'll leave 'em out, orright?

 

on May 14, 2017

Damn, it's slow going!  While I got the AMD big beastie going, it has been very slow going getting the Intel beastie back up and running... not to mention setting up my desk and how I want my mancave.

I still need to get a few more bits and pieces before I'm happy to close the Intel machine and fire it up.  A larger capacity M.2 SSD to accommodate the OS and my programs is one of those things, but currently it's being able to allocate the necessary funds, with other things always seeming to take priority [don't ya just hate that] every time I'm ready to order. 

However, it's the rest of it, the desk modifications and room setup, that's frustrating me most at the moment. The desk still needs some work, and the room is awkward because the available space is limited for what I want to achieve, but the biggest holdup for me recently has been pain and discomfort. 

It seems like every time I feel motivated to do something, I'm hampered by some health related issue and little gets done.  Recently it was the flu and feeling like crap.  Now [or should I say 'still'], it's arthritis, joint and back pain that's hampering my efforts.  Still, I try to achieve something every day and it is getting there slowly but surely.

Today I set up my extra monitors to accommodate my Mac-Mini and the Intel machine when it's up and running.  Now that mightn't sound like much, but I had to reroute and conceal all the necessary cabling, and seriously, you only realise just how heavy a monitor is when every bone and muscle in your body is hurting like a bitch.

Anyhow, I'm pleased with my efforts today and now I'm going to bed.  

 

on May 14, 2017

Don't forget to count the sheep.

on May 14, 2017


Don't forget to count the sheep.

You mean Roos. 

on May 14, 2017

Nah, I count CPUs jumping onto motherboards...

..... or Dolly playing leapfrog over a never-ending row of fire hydrants.

Ahhhhh, poetry in motion.

At least I got a reasonable amount of sleep last night, so hopefully the pain remains low-level and I can achieve even more today.  I got a carpet square that I want to put down and it requires moving a few things to lay it flat, but often it's the small things, those odds and ends and fiddly bits that take up most time.  I still have some of those piddling things to do, and every so often I get an epiphany, like how I can do 'it' even better, so I'm constantly rearranging things to better use the space I have to work in.

Anyhow, yakking with you lot ain't getting anything done.... so hooroo and bye, bye.

on May 15, 2017

starkers

Anyhow, yakking with you lot ain't getting anything done

Git 'er done.   

on May 15, 2017

I also struggle with pain sometimes. I've been feeling a little low lately. As a matter of fact I also need to rearrange my computer setup. Mostly I tinker with software though. Sometimes it's amazing how much effort you can put into something and yet the results are small in the overall scheme of things. I've tweaked fonts in Linux to get them more like Windows, because I intend to switch my dad to Linux, when Windows 7 bites the dust. If there was a way control updates in Windows 10 this wouldn't be necessary. He starts his computer, opens Chrome and turns off the computer. He has never dealt with updates in Windows 7 because I did that once in a while. I like to tinker with software, but the amount of time it takes is crazy. I can probably keep doing this until I die and still have more things to do...    

I don't like to go from one version of software to a newer version of software and lose something. Then I have to tinker to try to get back what was lost. Hardware is better in that way, because you don't really lose anything (except money) by upgrading your hardware.

on May 16, 2017

I'm doing a bit of both, upgrading hardware and software, just on different machines at the moment.  For the most part, I've been rearranging hardware in the Intel machine, taking various bits and pieces from its predecessor to put in it as a cheapskate's cost-less upgrade. 

The only new parts will be a 525 gig Crucial M.2 SSD, and a PCIE expansion card with an extra 12 SATA slots to accommodate all the drives: 2 x optical drives; 2 x SSDs, and 13 x HDDs.  I was using two PCIE cards with four slots apiece, but then I ended up needing an extra PCIE, thus necessitating the expansion card upgrade. The motherboard has 8 SATA slots, so I will end up with 20 when all is done. 

Like I said, it is a big beastie.  It mightn't have the latest and greatest CPU from Intel, mine being an i7 4970K, but it's more than adequate for my needs and I'll be sticking with it as far as Intel goes.  I've been reading that Intel will be releasing i9 behemoths with up to 32 cores or so, but I reckon they'll also come with a pretty hefty price tag, so my next proper upgrade will be an AMD Ryzen based machine sometime later this year.

Yeah, I probably bit off more than I can chew all at once: what with rebuilding the Intel machine, hardware-wise; rebuilding the current AMD machine with both hardware and software; rebuilding my desk to better house everything, and rearranging my room to make better use of the available space.  With so many pots on the boil, not to mention other household duties, it's no wonder I'm all behind like the cow's tail. 

Oh well, at least it's keeping me off the street.      

on May 16, 2017

starkers

so many pots on the boil

There's an old saying that a watched pot doesn't boil. If you don't watch they'll boil and you should be good to go. Seriously though I can imagine the size of your 'Beastie' what with all the HDD's and other stuff. Makes my laptop look piddly in comparison. I hope you get the biggest bang for your buck.   

on May 16, 2017


I hope you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Yeah, I've pretty much had all the components for a while now, it's just the M.2 SSD and the SATA expansion card that I'm currently waiting on. 

I actually have everything needed to fire it up now, but I see no sense in closing it up and installing Windows on a drive that's going to be replaced with one that's twice the capacity... and if I'm waiting on the M.2 SSD I may as well wait for the SATA expansion card as well.  The SSD should be here any day now, being I was able to reallocate the necessary funds, and I should be able to afford the expansion card next week if I'm wise with my money and don't spend on it crap I don't need.

Anyhow, it's all coming together nicely, and another week to get the Intel beastie running won't hurt.  It's not like I don't have a working machine to use, right?

on May 16, 2017

starkers

The only new parts will be a 525 gig Crucial M.2 SSD, and a PCIE expansion card with an extra 12 SATA slots to accommodate all the drives: 2 x optical drives; 2 x SSDs, and 13 x HDDs.

starkers

Like I said, it is a big beastie.

OK, that explains the name.

Whatever you are storing on those drives there must be plenty of it...      

on May 16, 2017

13 hard drives, WOW that's a lot of p0rn   

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